David makes a valid point. Most 10 yr olds do not have the physical strength or maturity to handle emergencies or, for that matter, get back on a boat in surge etc.

thats why children have to be supervised while diving. You must also remember that diving with a child and your instructor should make this clear to you, that a child is NOT your buddy, YOU are HIS/HER buddy and in effect you are solo diving since a child may not have the strength or ability to be your buddy in a emergency. As for gear.. the scuba industry is just now starting to make childrens gear.. its hard to expect a 10yr old to wear adult gear and be able to function like a adult.

Yeah, I am new here, but I have to agree with most of the people here. I think you should be 16 to Scuba. Just my opinion. I am in a class with a 10 year old, and a 13 year old, and they make me nervous as all hell. I think young kids should stick to snorkeling.

I agree with David. I think 10 is too young. I had a 15 year old in my class & he is dead now. He shot a big ling & it knocked his reg out of his mouth & drug him into a rig leg, knocked him out. His mom grabbed him and shot to the surface. He was DOA and she was bent. I guess what i'm saying is maybe 15 is too young???....no offense David. It's hard to say how old is old enough.

sure there are kids who shouldnt be certified and then ive seen adults who shouldnt be certified either. Adults can be just as stupid and dangerious to themselves as any kid. The only difference is kids have to be supervised and stupid adults dont. hmmm

I think that maybe there shouldn't be the diver who must be supervised, shouldn't a diver be able to be responsible as a diver and a buddy?

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Originally posted by Toothpickman:
1.) What is your opinion of the new 10 year old certification that many diving organizations are offering? 2.) Do you think that a 10 year old can make a competant diver? 3.) What age (older or younger) do you think should be the youngest a diver should be before they can be certified?

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Unlike everyone else, I'll just answer the questions asked.

1.) Way to get people excited about the sport at a young age. More money for certs and equipment. Making of young consumers.

2.) The average 10 year old could never make a competant diver. The cert material should in fact be a little tougher, and even at the current level would probably overwhelm a 10 year old. Having lower level materials for kids is a little silly and outright dangerous. And even with kids equipment, you can't reduce the weight and size of certain kit very much without also compromising on their quality: regs, tanks, bc, etc...

3.) Older. 16. Puts them at a good stage through high school where they should be able to grasp the concepts being taught in the same vein as they're learning their sciences in school.

Bruno

quote:

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Originally posted by Toothpickman:
What is your opinion of the new 10 year old certification that many diving organizations are offering? Do you think that a 10 year old can make a competant diver? What age (older or younger) do you think should be the youngest a diver should be before they can be certified?

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1. I do not believe that 10 year olds have the cognitive ability to understand the concepts that will be presented in the classroom and in the water. Even if they can pass the tests and perform the skills set forth by agency standards, they do not have the cognitive ability to understand how their actions underwater could ultimately end up in death. In the stage of development that they are (from a psychosocial point of view), their understanding is that no harm can come to them, they are invincible. Why do we wish to place them in a situation that requires a grasp of concepts that they are cognitively unable to understand and implement appropriately? Furthermore, I believe that 12 and 13 is too young for the same reasons. Add to that the attention span that man pre-adolescents have and you have a recipe for disaster.

2. Please see #1. I do not believe that a 10 year old can be a competent diver. By definition, a competent diver can not only fend for themselves, but can also help or support another diver. If agencies believe that divers under 12 can not dive without a parent present (or professional), then how can they be considered competent? Most of the responsibility is place on the parent or professional. If you disagree, just ask yourself, what is the rationale for putting young divers with a parent or professional? And, is it really safe to put children and parents together? I've seen many disagreements topside and over-protectedness on the parents part that the child never learns anything. No, I really don't believe a 10 year old can be competent; sometimes I even question if a 12-15 year old can be.

3. I believe that 15 is a good age to start. Not only are the concepts that are presented in the classroom concurrent with their high school education, they are also more capable in the water as far as comfort and stamina. Their concepts of right and wrong and death are more concrete, they are able to handle equipment easier, and their attention span is greater.

To beat it into a rug, I think that offering scuba to anyone under 12 (and even that is too young) is the biggest mistake that training agencies have made. I do not care about empirical data put forth by CMAS in regards to younger divers; I care about the safety of the children. How can one be safe if they can not understand that concept? I think that children should be allowed to be children; why do we want to make them grow up so fast? If a family that dives together stays together, then let's not set up children to fail. There is a time and place to learn scuba, it will always be there waiting for the right moment. Don't rush a good thing!

im only going to say 1 thing and that is we do not place restrictions on children riding bikes, snow skiing, skateboarding, etc nor do we require them to even take a class ahead of time, now your going to tell me that a child under supervision is a danger to himself.. hmmm ive certified many children and ive seen many who are better divers then alot of the adults ive certified. Sure they dont have the strength to rescue a adult but do we require that of children when they water ski or snow ski or ride a bike.. come on you cant tell me scuba is more dangerious then any of those other activities. Sure diving can be dangerious but so are alot of other sports. The parents and children are required to have a lecture on the dangers of diving before we even allow them near the water to give the parents a opportunity to understand the dangers of diving. Its the parent who ultimately decides if the child is to take up scuba diving and just like any other sport its their right to decide if their child is responsibile enough to do so. Anyone who claims children arnt capable of learning to be responsible divers is just ignorant.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rstone:
im only going to say 1 thing and that is we do not place restrictions on children riding bikes, snow skiing, skateboarding, etc nor do we require them to even take a class ahead of time

In each of these "sports" there is not the interdependence that exists in the sport of diving. Diving is more like mountain climbing than any of these sports. In this respect diving IS more dangerous than these sports. That is why a there is a test and classes as well as an age limit, that is set to fit the general populations abilities. Like driving a car or flying a plane while diving another person's life is your responsibility, I would think you would understand this as an instructor.